Changing World, Changing Views Of Heritage: Heritage And . - Accueil

- Should the history and traditions of immigrants become part of the heritage of the host country? How should heritage professionals deal with the reality of the major demographic changes now occurring throughout the world? Religious heritage - - - - What is the relationship between active religious observance and heritage monuments? Is ritual an obstruction, a privileged activity, or a common human heritage meant to be accessible and viewable by all? What role can or should religious observance play in 21st century heritage practice relating to places of worship? What are the requirements or needs for conservation of religious structures that are no longer active places of worship? Can heritage play a constructive role in encouraging coexistence between faiths? The social impacts of global climate change - - - How does climate change affect human settlements and economic patterns in a way that indirectly impacts cultural heritage? The earlier Scientific Council discussions dealt with physical threats posed by GCC on tangible heritage resources; what is the effect of GCC on intangible traditions? What change in significance does a monument undergo when its environmental context shifts? These are just some of the main issues - and some of the many questions - that highlight today’s major heritage challenges in dealing with an environmentally, economically and culturally changing world. Following the presentations, the symposium participants split into breakout sessions to further debate the four themes. The Dublin scientific symposium served as a fitting conclusion for the triennial series of discussions under the overarching theme ‘Changing World, Changing Views of Heritage: the Impact of Global Change on Cultural Heritage’. And we hope that in the texts of the introductory speeches by President of Ireland, Mary McAleese, by Minister of State for Sustainable Transport, Horticulture, Planning and Heritage, Ciarán Cuffe, in the papers that follow - both those presented at the symposium and those subsequently contributed for this publication - and in the discussion summaries, readers will find a wide range of intriguing and thought-provoking perspectives on each of the symposium themes. 6

Opening speeches Mary McAleese, President of Ireland Dia dhíbh a chairde, it is a pleasure to be here with you today on the occasion of the 2010 ICOMOS International Advisory Committee Meeting, Scientific Council Meeting and Scientific Symposium. I am delighted to extend the traditional Irish welcome of ‘céad míle fáilte’ to such a truly international gathering of experts in the field of cultural heritage conservation. I would like to thank Mr Grellan Rourke, President of ICOMOS Ireland and Mr Peter Cox, Vice President for the kind invitation to address you. You picked an interesting place in which to gather. Dublin Castle has played host over many centuries to captive audiences of one sort or another, but in the 21st century at least so far, they have all, like you, come of their own free will. What is now a fine, even benign conference centre was of course once a place whose mere name instilled terror into the hearts of the citizenry. Now it's just conference speakers who feel that fear! If the castle complex has its fair share of ghosts and grim stories it also has some of historic Dublin's, oldest surviving architecture as well as some gems of Dublin's legendary Georgian architecture not least of which is the building in which we are now located. Dublin was granted the accolade of UNESCO City of Literature this year and those of you familiar with James Joyce's Ulysses will know that its most powerful evocations of both culture and place are associated with this old Dublin heartland. These stones hold our heritage and though the world changes and landscapes change too, there is a guardianship that is required of each generation, to effectively protect all those elements of heritage which deserve our care. Each one of you has made it your vocation to safeguard and to showcase that heritage. The broad context in which you do that is always in flux, from the encroachment of urbanization, rapidly altering demography, the years of the building boom and the present years of more frugal resources. Changing too are the national and international knowledge, skills and experience bases and ICOMOS provides an invaluable platform for professional networking and inter-disciplinary exchange between experts, national heritage services, museums, universities, local authorities, archaeologists and architects and all those whose work impacts on the preservation of cultural heritage, including buildings, historic cities, cultural landscapes and archaeological sites. The opportunity offered by this conference is invaluable and we in Ireland appreciate the long history of leadership that ICOMOS has offered around the world. We are delighted that you have chosen Dublin for this advisory meeting and hope that its welcome and its atmosphere will set the scene for intensive deliberations that will eventually help all of us take the right next steps, the surest next steps as we try to accommodate the contemporary world and keep heritage at its heart. The current economic circumstances, and changes in the fortunes of economies throughout the world, give a particularly sharp focus to this year's theme - the impact of social change on our heritage. You will have noticed I am sure that many new buildings sit now alongside Georgian Dublin. They will form part of the built heritage of the future among them new stadia, concert halls, conference centres, public squares and landmark buildings that will endure long, long after we have overcome our current economic difficulties. Who can predict the ebb and flow of the fortunes of a city or a country over the centuries? No-one could hope to do so with any degree of accuracy yet there is a need to ensure that whatever the ups and downs, the known and the unknown, a common and unbroken thread of care for heritage will run through the present and the future, that it will have a structure and an exacting science underpinning it and will not be left to chance. So your presentations on the impact of social change on heritage practice can help to inform us about how best to protect our cultural assets - not just in good times but in challenging ones too and into the realm of that which is still unknowable. There is considerable potential in the new initiative through which the International Scientific Committees are partnering with a wide group of Irish institutions and organizations, including Dublin City Council, ESB, the Construction Industry Federation, the Irish Heritage Trust and many more. This week's events will allow hundreds of Irish cultural heritage professionals, contractors and crafts people learn from your combined wisdom and I want to thank the foreign delegates from the International Scientific Committees who are participating in this partnership process for so generously sharing their expertise and experience and putting them at the service of our Irish heritage. That heritage is rich and varied. It has shaped our character and identity and is a source of real national pride and international interest for we in Ireland are custodians of fascinating elements of our common human patrimony. The island of Ireland is home to three World Heritage sites, Skellig Michael in the far South West - the Archaeological Ensemble of the Bend of the Boyne in the centre and the Giant's Causeway and Causeway Coast up in the far North. They each provide us with layer after layer of fascination from the physical and geological, to the mythologies, folklore and lived histories that have gathered around them and travelled out from them. In the same spirit of wonder and appreciation, Ireland has also recently reviewed its Tentative List of potential sites for nomination to the World Heritage List and it reflects a diverse and fascinating array of possibilities. I know that representatives from ICOMOS Ireland played a key role in helping to prepare the reviewed list and I 7

thank them for their expertise and advice. The hosting of this international meeting in Dublin complements Ireland's World Heritage priorities and its focus on the preservation of our diverse cultural heritage. Thank you to ICOMOS Ireland for bringing this important meeting to Ireland and thanks to each one of you for being champions and advocates of a way of thinking about the world that refuses to be overwhelmed by the frenetic demands of the moment and forces us to reflect deeply on where we place heritage in the present and in the future, so that we do not let ourselves become cultural orphans who waken up too late to what we have lost. I hope you also get the opportunity to enjoy firsthand experience of Ireland's heritage and culture. I wish you every success with all the strands of this meeting; may you leave here with new ideas and new enthusiasm for preserving, protecting and promoting the world's most significant sites and monuments for this generation and for the future. Go raibh míle maith agaibh go léir. 8

Ciarán Cuffe, Minister of State for Sustainable Transport, Horticulture, Planning and Heritage Social change has had a significant influence on our heritage and will continue to do so. Some of this influence has been positive and some negative. ICOMOS is setting out the possible contribution it could make in addressing the various challenges and in bringing forward possible initiatives and collaborations. I applaud you for your work in grappling with this issue. I know that ICOMOS is an advisory body to UNESCO on matters relating to World Heritage. As you are aware Ireland has two properties on the World Heritage List. Over the next decade, we hope to bring forward further nominations to the World Heritage List from our new Tentative List. This list was announced by my colleague, Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government, John Gormley T.D., in April and noted by the World Heritage Committee at its meeting in Brasilia earlier this year. I understand that you have received Ireland’s World Heritage brochure. I am sure you will agree that the photographs in the brochure of Ireland’s World Heritage properties and the properties on the Tentative List provide an impressive display of Ireland’s rich and varied heritage. Over the last few years, Ireland has strengthened its links with UNESCO and the World Heritage Centre. For example, last year, we hosted a follow up meeting on World Heritage periodic reporting in Western Europe to take stock of progress to date. I note that you are to have a presentation today on ‘Conserving the Lalibela World Heritage Site in Ethiopia’. Ireland has provided funding for this project. World Heritage designation is important in terms of the conservation and presentation of properties of outstanding universal value or OUV. World Heritage sites are also a means to stimulate economic development. I believe that tourism needs, local community benefits and conservation can co-exist in harmony. It is important to get the balance right. The International Cultural Tourism Charter of ICOMOS provides a framework for assisting in doing so. It sets out key principles to guide the dynamic relationships between tourism and heritage. Last year, Minister Gormley launched the Government Policy on Architecture 2009-2015 Towards a Sustainable Future: Delivering Quality within the Built Environment and I believe that you have received a complementary copy of this publication. The Policy provides the appropriate framework for architectural policy in Ireland over the next six years. This Policy, under my remit, places an emphasis on sustainable development of the environment and urban design, encourages and supports high quality modern architecture, and incorporates architectural heritage in a holistic, integrated manner. The Policy complements and supports the Government’s wider economic strategy Building Ireland’s Smart Economy: A Framework for Sustainable Economic Renewal in areas such as research, green enterprise and the development of efficient and sustainable technologies for the built environment. Under the Government Policy on Architecture, research is required into the specific effects of a changing climate on Irish buildings and on our traditional building materials and construction methods. In line with the Policy, next week, Minister Gormley will be launching an advice series booklet Energy Efficiency in Traditional Buildings with booklets on the Repair of Roofs and the Repair of Ruins. This series of booklets produced by the Department of the Environment, Heritage and Local Government is designed to guide owners and occupiers of historic buildings on how best to protect their properties and consequently Ireland's architectural heritage. Particularly and of specific focus is The Energy Efficiency in Traditional Buildings booklet which explores ways of improving energy efficiency while maintaining architectural character and significance, which you will agree here today is one of the foremost challenges facing our cultural heritage. One of the themes of this scientific symposium is the ‘Social Impacts of Global Climate Change’. I thought that it would be useful to give you a brief outline of Ireland’s climate change policy. The National Climate Change Strategy 2007-12 is the centrepiece of our national policy and it sets out a target-based approach to comply with our EU requirements for the purposes of the Kyoto Protocol. Our Environmental Protection Agency has published its provisional estimates of greenhouse gas emissions for 2009 and has reported a significant decrease in Ireland's emissions. Carbon emissions decreased across all sectors in 2009 due to the effects of the economic downturn. Ireland is on track to meet its Kyoto commitments but we must not take our eye off the ball. The challenge facing us now is to use the opportunity to embed fundamental emission reductions in the economy in order to meet the very stringent EU 2020 limits which we face and to move permanently to a low carbon economy. We cannot rely on a recession to meet our future targets. In December last, Minister Gormley issued a Framework for the Climate Change Bill 2010. The Bill will, among other things, set the context for our national transition to a low carbon, resource efficient, environmentally sustainable and climate resilient economy and society. The General Scheme of the Bill is currently being drafted. Following approval by Government, this scheme will provide the basis for full stakeholder consultation on the proposed provisions of the Bill. In parallel, work is underway on developing national policy on climate change adaptation with a view to publishing a framework on adaptation in the near future. 9

As a research report, the Department of the Environment, Heritage and Local Government commissioned ICOMOS Ireland to provide recommendations on monitoring solutions for the impacts of climate change on the built heritage, in particular, at Ireland’s World Heritage site Brú na Bóinne and at a property on our Tentative List, Clonmacnoise. The Department has been in discussion with Met Éireann (the Irish Weather Service) and the Office of Public Works, which has responsibility for the management of both properties, as to how the recommendations contained in ICOMOS’s report might be implemented. This project provides a good framework, as a test case, for the measurement and monitoring of the effects of climate change on the built heritage from a practical perspective. . 10

Selected papers Protecting Kraków’s heritage through the power of social networking Monika Bogdanowska, ICOMOS Poland Martin Taylor, Tsirus UK Limited, United Kingdom Introduction The Old City of Kraków was listed as a World Heritage site as early as 1978. Since then this most valuable and authentic of Polish cities has been subject to both revitalization and restoration programs, as well as anarchic alterations. It is currently threatened by industrial, commercial, housing and transport infrastructure developments. Following the political transition of 1989, these changes gathered momentum. Kraków’s beauty has made it an increasingly popular tourist attraction, but it also began attracting business and property developers. Chaotic, uncontrolled and unplanned changes have brought degradation of the historic city and damaged the natural environment. Development of tourism has made it very difficult for local people to live in the city centre, damaging civic culture and leading to an open-air museum effect. City authorities seem to be unprepared or unwilling to halt these processes. On finding conventional means of protest ineffective, local activists have embraced Internet-based technologies in order to distribute information and allow organisation. Conventional active.ities, while useful for dissemination of more static information, were found to be less effective than social networking sites such as Facebook, which facilitate rapid distribution of information reflecting the real-world dynamics of the city. Furthermore, by allowing people a voice and to share experiences through a wide range of media, highly effective ‘virtual communities of interest’ have evolved, which include not only local people, but also those from the international community who share similar problems in their own towns and cities. During the post-war period, communist ideology overwhelmed Kraków’s indigenous tendencies as the ‘City of Science and Culture’ and brought devastation to the eastern suburban agricultural regions through the building of the giant ‘Lenin Steelworks’, together with the social realist city of Nowa Huta. During the following fifty years, the city’s area grew eighty times and the number of inhabitants tripled. Kraków suffered chaotic development and ecological disaster due to acid rain falling on its precious monuments. Fortunately, the backlash to this devastation gathered momentum and since 1985 the city has been granted special restoration funding, which has allowed the protection and restoration of hundreds of churches, public buildings, priv

'Heritage and Technological Change' examined at the symposium held at the Advisory Committee Meeting in Valletta, Malta on 7 October 2009, and the theme of 'Heritage and Social Change' addressed in Dublin in 2010. The three 'change' themes were chosen to focus scholarly and professional attention on the challenges